Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki sat down with Zach Lowe on grantland.com following Monday's loss to Atlanta and talked about his career and other Mavericks topics. Here are some highlights.

Rumor has it the team calls you the Big Mummy now. Because you’re so stiff, I guess. Who came up with that, if it’s true?

Dirk Nowitzki: [Laughs] … I don't know, I think it was [Mavs assistant] Darrell Armstrong. He's one of the craziest guys ever in this league. But, honestly, that's not only this year. In the mornings, even the year we won it all, if you watch me in shootaround, I just look so stiff. First of all, I'm not a morning guy, so I run all stiff-legged in shootaround. But "Mummy" is a really good one.

Tonight was a tough one for you guys, considering the hole you’ve dug. How do you approach the situation? Do you look at the schedule and think, We need to win 70 percent of our games from here on out? Do players think that way?

Dirk Nowitzki: I think you really have to take it one game at a time, even though it's so stupid. When you're so far behind the eight ball, it doesn't make sense to look 15 games ahead and say, "We gotta go 13-2." Maybe the coach does that. But as a player, you have to go one game at a time. This game [against Atlanta] was a must-win. If you are going to have any chance at the playoffs, you can't lose this one at home to, like you said, a decent team. It's a game we had to have.

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